Asian Parenting, or, just plain parenting...Part #1

I'm an Asian mom, but unlike the woman who published a book about Chinese mothering this month, I have no intention of controlling my kids' future, life, education, happiness or anything else for that matter.  I may not have a law degree from Yale, but then you don't need a Yale degree to raise normal, happy, creative and curious kids.

I started off with the hands off, non-pushing approach.  When we were looking for preschools for my oldest, who's a high school freshman now, we steered cleared of any preschools with signs of teaching word recognition, spelling, counting or phonics in the classroom.  We ended up in a preschool with its own back hill garden, classroom with lots of toys and two huge playground stocked with climbing structures, sand, water station, a play barn, hand made slides, painting wall and a plain field.  The science room is stocked with a snake, an insect box, two bunnies, silkworms, lizards, two parakeets, a few microscopes and lots of magnifying glasses.  The preschooler room has a play kitchen, a dress up area, an art table, a book nook, a second tier structure where you could climb up to snuggle in some soft pillows and sofa, stocked also with books,  and lots of games and building supplies.  The playroom for older kids are stocked with board games, Legos, Erectors, wooden blocks, K'Nex, GeoMag, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, Zoob, and have you heard of these: Kaplas.  The teachers read and sang to them constantly throughout the day.


For my kids, missing preschool was a big disappointment.  That means they did not get to pick their own vegetables to cook their own lunch, play a game of seashells Mancala with their best friend, build a fort in the hill garden, feed the chickens and collect the eggs, or draw trading cards to trade.  Around the Holidays, it was so much more important to show up since they may also missed the chance to decorate the haunted house or attend the auction for donated toys, books and games, with the coupons they earned doing chores for the teachers.


ABC or math was never taught in that preschool, or in our house, before Kindergarten.  We did, constantly, do two things: read and play.  My eldest did not start read on her own until the end of second grade....but then the reading never stops, even with all the other life, social and school requirements vying for her attention.  My two boys started reading on their own, both in first grade.  So far I haven't heard any complaints about school, learning, or reading being stupid or boring, and I have their preschool to thank.